Omnibus News - Diocese of Nottingham

omnibus 16
associated groups & agencies - pax christi
Addressing the real wounds of the
human family: a call to action
‘They dress my people’s wound without concern: “Peace! Peace!” they say,
but there is no peace. They should be ashamed of their abominable deeds.
But not they!’ (Jeremiah 6:14-15)
In common with those at the heart of this
cry of the prophet Jeremiah, millions of
people today are offered a false and
dangerous peace which not only ignores
but often exacerbates the real suffering of
the human family and the very planet. For
too long approaches to achieving peace
and security have been dominated military
and coercive models – we seem unable to
think out of the box. The Quakers have a
saying, “If the only tool in the toolbox is a
hammer, then every problem is a nail”. As
we prepare for a General Election we have
a great opportunity to talk with prospective
candidates about the kind of ‘tools’ best
suited for world – at home and overseas.
Pax Christi, together with its sister
organisation the Fellowship of
Reconciliation have produced “Security for
the Common Good: A Christian challenge
to military security strategies” to stimulate
the debate, believing that if we use the
right tools and get our priorities right, we
can better solve problems of human
insecurity, injustice and poverty.
One indicator of the care we have for
the poor of the Global south are the
Millenium Development Goals. They tell
us that $30 billion would provide universal
primary education and $11 billion would
halve those without access to clean water.
Closer to home, Citysafe is a London based
initiative to help young people in particular
feel more secure in our cities by supporting
community-led responses to the problem
of crime and the fear of crime. The project,
which would not be costly, seeks to
building trust and confidence between a
variety of groups within communities and
encourage joint responsibility for creating
secure places to live. Support for such
projects would go a long way to meeting
human needs and create genuine human
security. Why is it then that so much is still
invested in military or violent solutions to
problem solving In 2008 global military
spending was $1464 trillion and UK
spending £38 billion
We invite churches, dioceses,
congregations, parishes, groups, and all
individuals of goodwill, to join our appeal
to build security for the common good
where the pursuit of love and justice set the
political, economic and social agenda.
Now is the time to redirect military
spending, research and development into
life-giving projects that address our real
security needs today. There will be many
new candidates standing in the General
Election, now is the time to talk with them
about reframing approaches to defence
and security in favour of security for the
common good.
To help in this process we have also
produced an Election Briefing with a focus
on four areas: Middle East, the Arms Trade,
Nuclear Proliferation and Military
Spending. Easy to use, with a short
introduction to each section followed by a
number of questions, we encourage
churches to work ecumenically in
organising hustings and other pre-election
gathering. We have an important message
to share and should not be afraid of raising
our voices now!
Both of these documents can be found at
http://www.paxchristi.org.uk/SecurityDisarmament.HTML on the Pax Christi
website or ordered from the office. Just call 0208 203 4884
St Joseph's, Watford Way,
London NW4 4TY.
Tel 0208 203 4884
www.paxchristi.org.uk
Page 16 April 2010